Week with Friend - Gulf Day - Restaurants

 Shalimar, Fl, (Hi 90  Low 80)  Higher humidity

Ruth, a friend from Illinois came for the week on Friday afternoon. I showed her around where I'm living and stayed close to the area because traffic is so bad on the weekends.

There's a neat place where boats and skidoos go into the bayou with picnic tables. We sat and watched a lot of activity going in and out of the water for a couple hours on Saturday.  (Click on the photos to enlarge.)

 The water is clear and I loved this stump, tiny fish were all around it (but can't see them in the picture. 

                                            The house next door. They have a nice view of the bayou. 

 I had chimes practice on Sunday and Ruth went to the pool. We both enjoyed the Jammers concert that's with people from the village after the practice. 

Monday was a day at the beach, It was very windy so that kept it cooler then it would have been without the wind. It was 89 degrees with humidity at 78% so the wind was a blessing. We were there four hours but one hour was on the fishing pier. We were west of Destin in a shopping area called the boardwalk which had lots of restaurants and free parking. We were lucky to find a parking space. It wouldn't have been that easy on the weekend. The sand dunes on the way to the beach toward Destin. 

                                            Thousands of boats in and out of the inlet

                                            The boardwalk fishing pier.

                                            Looking back to the beach from the end of the pier

                                                      On the pier looking toward the beach

                                            School of fish, they catch them for bait. 

                They have locks for the lockers for "your stuff" by the end of the day the locks are all gone. 

                     There were several sharks around the pier.  Too close to the swimmers in my opinion. This is a sucker fish that cling to the sharks to clean them. Very interesting the suction they have when you put your arm on the "suction cups". 

     The Gulf is fairly quiet it changed all day long. The rip currents weren't as bad as earlier in the week.  There's been many drownings from rip currents this week. The weekend will be bad. 

                                                    The "I" was here photo with Ruth. 

                                                We sat under the bridge, it was cooler. 

                                           The sand is more like sugar it's very fine and gets into everything. 

                                                Waves were getting higher later in the day. 

After we left and we went to play cards at 5:30. It was a great day on the beach! Neither of us were burnt, so that was a good thing. 

Tuesday I had the meditation group so we left when that was over and went back to Okaloosa Island for shopping. We went to the tourist store with all the souvenirs. We also found a huge flea market all indoors which was really nice. They had everything you could think of. I found a beautiful wreath. It's just in time for the July 4th weekend. 

                                    

                                                This statue was outside one of the stores. 

                                         There's rows and rows of "stuff" to buy at the flea market. 

                                                  

Record players are coming back this one is $600. 

                                                        It even has records in it.  

                We ate dinner at AJ's, this is my second favorite restaurant in the area, so far. 

Speaking of restaurants, there's so many so chose from, but the most popular for most folks around the village is:  Stewby's seafood, steamed or fried. We had a great fish sandwich which had lots of sauce and slaw on it. (Next time I'll ask less sauce and NO slaw). The first favorite is The Shack which has outstanding shrimp and green friend tomatoes with lobster sauce. 

             Next time I'm getting this with keylime pie for lunch. I'm sure I'll find a lot more places I like. 

Wednesday, we went to Destin and then on the causeway toward Niceville. It took awhile but Ruth wanted to go to Marshall's and Home Goods. I haven't been to either store and was surprised to find so many great items. I was looking for those watering cans with the long spout and they had it.  I also found the gnomes I was trying to find online. At Home Goods I found several but bought only four this time around. Now I can put together my little space off the patio. Two of them have solar lights, not sure how much sun they'll get, but we'll see. 

I found 2 skillets for single people, 6 inch and 8 inch. It's hard finding the tiny one and mine needed replaced, it even came with the tiny spatula. I'm all set now. 

We got back to the village and people were getting ready for the Senior Prom. I wasn't interested and I knew Ruth wouldn't be either, so we passed. It was neat seeing everyone in their formal attire. They've been collecting formals for weeks and everything has been in the game room for people to choose what they'd wear. Here's a few pictures that were on Facebook. 

Just to show they had a good time and what activities can go on around here. 

Thursday, I took Ruth back to the airport and I went to shuffleboard. There were four people this time and every week someone wants to learn how to play. It can be done sitting down so that helps a lot of the residents. I play cards every night but Friday and Saturday and still go in chat that was started back in 2007. Some things don't change. 

Friday was quiet. I had the group for darts. I also signed up for a few activities in July in the commons. We need to sign up for the activities that require food or a number of people for chair setups. I cleaned the apartment. Yeah, that has to get done once in awhile. 

Just a little extra info, meaning nothing but I need the info for next year. I had my dermatology appointment and passed with flying colors. I have AGE spots, ya, tell me about it. I had one tiny precancer cell by my ear burned off, which is really good for being in Florida.  I also got my new glasses a week early. That's great, I can now see better with the left eye. All is good. Only thing left is the dental and that's August. It's been a great week. The holiday is next week, so another busy week. 

More Storms - Eye Doctor - Friend Visiting

 Shalimar, FL  (Hi 87  Lo 74) 

We had a terrific storm on Sunday morning. I've lived in Florida off and on for many years but this was the first time I was a bit nervous. The worst part it, there was tornado and I missed the alert. I had so many alarms on the phone which most were severe weather, but one was tornado warning. There was a three wheeled bike turned over and steel outdoor furniture seat turned over. A few odds and ends scattered about (pillows from lawn furniture) and tree limbs, but nothing serious.  It made for an interesting morning. The tornado actually was in Destin, but we had hard winds here. 

                                                Destin, FL  waterspout that came inland. 

In the afternoon we met with the son of one of the gals back from a vacation. She calls him every Saturday night at happy hour. It was great meeting him in person. I played cards with the gals in the evening. 

Monday was another stormy morning, but not like yesterday. There was a water spout in the gulf and it went on land, but didn't last long. I had my eye appointment at 10:00 so I missed most of the harder rains. Doctor Purdy was great and I passed with flying colors. I'm having a bit of trouble with the left eye and she ordered a new lens for that  eye. I'll get it in two weeks. I have two more doctors to go, dermatology and dentist.  

Tuesday: I'm getting into a lull time so crocheting a lot. There's been storms and the heat is getting to most of the gals, so everyone is staying in. I did the meditation group and it went well. The leader is on vacation for a couple weeks. 

Wednesday: I got up early to go to a Laughter is the best medicine activity. We waited about 20 minutes and no one showed up, so I went back home and cleaned the apartment. I let the little "maid" the Rumba clean the floors while I dusted. I love watching it move around, go under the couch and clean the whole area. It gets trapped once in awhile and I'll have to pick it up and send it on it's way thru the room. I'm glad I have it, saves my back from sweeping. 

Thursday: A quiet day over all. I got up way to early (7:30) just couldn't go back to sleep. I hate doing that, it makes the day too long. I had shuffleboard at 1:00. There were four of us playing. I put up a sign to remind people it's Thursday and a sign for darts for Friday. I played cards which we gained a couple more gals. 

Friday I made the last few changes and cleanup for my friend from Illinois, Ruth who came in the afternoon. I picked her up at the airport then we went to lunch, Twisted Grape, to the commissary and back home just in time for a quick rain shower. We settled in watching some TV for the evening. We'll do a lot tomorrow.  This is where we had lunch. 

Friday the sewing group got together to learn some advanced sewing. 

The peace lily plant made it from Illinois is a bouncy truck and still growing so fast and big. I'm loving it. 

                                        One night this week after a rain storm. This was BRIGHT!

A week with Ruth will be fun, showing the area and what my life it like. See you next week.